Five autonomous vehicle projects that can shape a driverless future

Tallinn launches free, self-driving bus pilot

While Lyft and Motional are piloting commercial CAV services, Estonian capital Tallinn launched a free driverless bus service pilot in July 2022. The bus carries eight people, including a security member of staff, and travels on a pre-mapped 1.8km circuit every 25 minutes between 10am and 4pm between Tuesday and Sunday.

Despite the initial pilot ending on 14 September, city officials are hopeful that success of the pilot will lead to another longer autonomous driving project.

The pilot is being run by the Tallinn Transport Authority and Auve Tech OÜ, and runs through the district of Mustamäe, whose officials say that the compact nature of the district is ideal for the pilot, as it’s possible to cover a significant number of citizens even through a short route.

Autonomous shuttle to launch in Rhine-Main area from 2023

Sticking with Europe, the German cities of Darmstadt and Offenbach in the Rhine-Main area plan to launch an autonomous shuttle service to be completely integrated into regular public transport operations.

The test phase of the autonomous Level 4 vehicles is due to begin in 2023, with Deutcsche Bahn’s digital mobility technology company, Ioki, providing the autonomous driving software, and Intel subsidiary Mobileye also contributing to the technology.

The local transport authority, Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), says that the service will create more flexibility for passengers and can also help to reduce congestion. The service will be app-based and on-demand. It will be the latest in a string of service rollouts that Ioki has been involved with, and will be followed by further service area rollouts in the districts of Groß-Gerau, Darmstadt-Dieburg and Hanau.

First zero-occupancy autonomous driving journey in Europe

Autonomous mobility isn’t only useful in passenger-facing services but also logistics, freight and delivery. One such example is the upcoming Ocado Group goods delivery pilot, which will use Oxbotica’s all-electric AppliedEV prototype vehicle.

The vehicle recently underwent its first safe, sustainable, zero-occupancy deployment on public roads in the UK ahead of the Ocado pilot in 2023, following a two-year period of extensive trials to prove its safety case and develop its system architecture.

The vehicle test is part of Oxbotica’s plans to accelerate commercial deployment of autonomous mobility around the world, as it works with partners like ZF, BP and Nevs to enable passenger shuttles and other industry-specific platforms.

Uber Eats pilots autonomous delivery service in Santa Monica

Motional has also been working with Lyft competitor Uber to launch an autonomous delivery service in Santa Monica for customers of the ride-sharing firm’s food delivery business, Uber Eats.

The service constituted a first for both firms at launch, being the first on-road autonomous vehicle pilot for Uber Eats, and Motional’s first foray into the autonomous delivery space. The aim is to provide safer, more cost-effective and reliable deliveries to customers, and set a new standard for the on-demand delivery market.

As with the Lyft Las Vegas project, the service will use Motional’s all-electric Ioniq 5-based vehicles to complete end-to-end deliveries. The vehicles have been adapted to better support delivery services rather than passenger services – part of the Motional team’s efforts to better understand each touchpoint of the commercial delivery chain.